Ain’t no sugarcoatin’ where I came from

It wasn’t just hunger…

It was trauma on a paper plate

And somehow, I made it taste like gold…

⸻

Struggle meals, nihgga, I been starvin’ with the wolves

Cup noodles, bread moldin’, still breakin’ all the rules

Section 8 vibes, roaches dancin’ on the floor

But I learned how to flip nothin’ into more

Struggle meals, heat the house with the stove

Crumbs on my plate, but the heart still gold

Ain’t no shame when you really from the field

I came up off them cold-ass struggle meals

⸻

Nihgga, it was ramen in a tupperware, heatin’ with a lighter

No father in the crib, just the pain gettin’ tighter

Mama sellin’ EBT for crack on the block

And I watched her fuck strange nihggaz in front of my spot

Eyes wide open, couldn’t blink through the trauma

I was only nine, man, couldn’t even call on mama

She was lost in a high, I was lost in the dark

But I found light in the hustle, built a throne from the parts

Boilin’ water just to fake like we had heat

Runnin’ from the landlord, shoes missin’ feet

But I kept that hunger, nihgga, turned it to a verse

Now the pain that broke me sittin’ polished in a hearse

⸻

Struggle meals, nihgga, I been starvin’ with the wolves

Cup noodles, bread moldin’, still breakin’ all the rules

Section 8 vibes, roaches dancin’ on the floor

But I learned how to flip nothin’ into more

Struggle meals, heat the house with the stove

Crumbs on my plate, but the heart still gold

Ain’t no shame when you really from the field

I came up off them cold-ass struggle meals

⸻

Nihgga, every spoon fed me grief and resilience

I ain’t ask for this life, but I claimed my brilliance

Microwave dinners, no side, just the pain

TV on static, and the roof leak rain

Hand-me-down dreams, nihgga, stitched with stress

But I wore that struggle like a motherfuckin’ vest

Every night taught me how to cook from the dirt

Now it’s lobster on the yacht, pain on a shirt

Still hear the echoes of that window bein’ tapped

Mama gone again, and the fiend comin’ back

But I made it out — off the scars and steel

Turned them broke nights into somethin’ you can feel

⸻

Struggle meals, nihgga, I been starvin’ with the wolves

Cup noodles, bread moldin’, still breakin’ all the rules

Section 8 vibes, roaches dancin’ on the floor

But I learned how to flip nothin’ into more

Struggle meals, heat the house with the stove

Crumbs on my plate, but the heart still gold

Ain’t no shame when you really from the field

I came up off them cold-ass struggle meals

⸻

That pain was loud, nihgga…

But my ambition? Louder.

From watchin’ my own mama fade out in front of me,

To standin’ tall with the hunger that built me…

This ain’t no fairy tale —

This is Struggle Meals.